Page 69 of Shifting Hearts

THREE

Maddy

I walk out of the room, hoping to catch at least a snippet of the information I need, but the door closes behind me with force, and I blow out a breath.

Fuck!

I should have let it be.

But somehow, I knew, I just knew that something wasn’t sitting right with the shots. And when I saw the hesitant look on the face of the freakishly handsome, although scarred, stranger against the wall, I knew I needed to do something.

There is just something about a man who wears his scars with honor.

Not that it was honor I was thinking about when he touched me.

In fact, I could have sworn that my skin was trying to jump off my body. I felt the wave of anticipation rush over my skin.

He didn’t even flinch when he felt my birthmark. That was something I had never experienced before.

Since I was a baby in the orphanage, Mrs. Gruber constantly reminded me of the hideous mark on my hip and that no one would ever want a child as defective as me.

It took me years under her thumb to realize that some people honestly didn’t care, but it was too late by then.

I couldn’t save myself anymore. Maddy Smith had nothing that anybody wanted.

But I could be a protector for the rest.

Walking toward the locker rooms to get out of this ridiculous getup, I think about the day that I discovered my unique gift.

I don’t know where it came from or how it works, but I know it made it very easy to get what I wanted.

Taking a seat on one of the old, tired chairs, my hands hang helplessly between my spread legs, and I let the memories take hold of me.

I was around fourteen years old and puberty hit me hard.

Apparently, it wasn’t enough for Mrs. Gruber that I worked like a dog to earn my keep; she wanted more.

So, when she yanked me off the floor and threw the scrub brush aside, I knew she had a different plan.

She pushed me, fully clothed, under the cold water spray in the shower and raked her fingers through my long black hair to tie it in a ponytail.

Swinging me around, she scrutinized me from top to bottom.

“You’ll have to do. Keep your mouth shut and do what he tells you to do. I don’t want you waking the other children with your screaming, or I’ll have you out on the street so fast, you won’t know what hit you. Do you understand, girl?”

I nodded mutely, scared shitless because I had seen the men who came through here. There was no way for me to defend myself against them.

“What about my birthmark?” I tried as a last resort.

“Just keep their hands away from it and you should be fine. I got the back room ready. So, get going. And don’t come back to me when you are done. Go get cleaned up and go to bed. I don’t want to see you for the rest of the night.”

She spoke as if placing an order at a restaurant instead of bartering with the only precious thing I had left. My virginity.

My steps were slow, dragging across the floor that I had scrubbed clean less than an hour ago.

I opened the squeaking door and stared at the unruly bed with stains decorating the greyish covers. I might have been blue at some stage. Yes, I think a baby blue.

And this would be where I lose the last part of my soul. Here, I will be tainted and shattered by this cruel world.

Closing the door behind me, I went to sit on the edge of the bed and bounced a little to test the springs. It was a good mattress, all things considered. Much better than we had in our rooms.

Trying to focus on anything else, I took the crusty sheet in my hand and winced at the feeling between my fingers.

The door burst open, and in the doorway stood a colossal man with an evil grin on his face. I tossed the sheet away from me when the door opened, but now, I wished I had kept it and could use it to shield myself from what was about to happen.

He stalked forward and slammed the door shut with his boot.

“She said you looked mature for your age, but this is a pleasant surprise. How old are you exactly?”

Too stunned to say anything, he tried again when no sound came from me. “This is only going to work if you do as I say, girly. Now, I asked you a question.”

My voice came out in a terrified whimper. “Fourteen. I’m fourteen.”

Pleased, he asked another question, “And why are your clothes so wet?”

I barely registered the coldness of my soaked clothes until this very moment. “She pushed me under the shower,” I stuttered.

He moved to the corner of the room to sit in the dingy armchair, with his legs spread and his hands on his thighs.

“Take off your clothes,” he gruffly said.

It wasn’t a request.

Gingerly, I willed my frozen limbs to obey.

One shoulder strap of my tattered dress slipped off, and the other followed.

Within seconds, my only form of protection lay crumpled at my feet.

My thin cotton panties were next, and I cursed the useless mother who abandoned me at this forsaken orphanage.

Couldn’t she at least have found one that didn’t have such an evil woman at the helm?

Naked and exposed, I stared at my feet and obediently waited for the next instruction.

“Come here, I want to see your face.” His voice was trembling.

On my tiptoes, I walked closer and froze dead in my tracks when he said, “Stop right there and look at me.”

Hesitantly, I lifted my head and looked at the man sitting before me.

In another situation, I might have thought he was handsome, maybe even developed a massive crush on him. But here, right now, he was a thief coming to steal my innocence, and I felt the anger well up inside.

“You don’t like me, do you?”

I shook my head, but my eyes never left his gaze.

“If you had the power, which you don’t, what would you’ve done?”

Mrs. Gruber said to keep quiet, but I am more afraid of what this man would do to me.

“Nothing,” I whispered.

“That’s not true. Listen, this is going to be very unpleasant for you whether you answer me honestly or not. Might as well speak your mind and convince yourself later that you did all you could to avoid the pain.”

He was right.

I dug deep and gathered all the courage I could muster before pointing my finger at him, looking him dead in the eyes and saying, “I wish that every time your dirty, disgusting cock gets hard for an underage child or anyone else being forced into this situation, your blood would curdle, and your body would shut down. Just for an extra measure, I wish you would shit yourself so that your death could be as sickening and vile as you are.”

I was out of breath, but I was feeling better. This must be the best and worst day of my life. I experienced freedom that I had never tasted before.

If I survive this, I might have a chance to do things differently in my life .

The man before me twitched and his hand flew up to reach for me. I jumped back and lifted my hand to cover the gasp wanting to escape my lips.

He twitched one more time before his shoulders sagged and a strange smell filled the air.

I backed away from him and wrestled into my wet clothes before I ripped open the door and ran down the corridor toward Mrs. Gruber’s room.

My fists hammered on her door, but it still took her some time to open it up in her nightgown.

“What the fuck do you want? The price is non-negotiable.” She looked over my head, clearly expecting the tall stranger.

“Something happened. Come see.”

I didn’t wait for her to follow but ran back to the room. Eventually, she silently joined me as we stared at the pitiful sight before us.

“What did you do?”

I had to think on my feet, but the plan developed while I was putting my clothes back on.

“He took one look at my birthmark and started twitching. I don’t know what it was, but he looked afraid.”

That will teach her to mess with me! I thought.

She shooed me to my room. I have no idea how she got rid of the body, but she never called on me again.

With a heavy heart, I stand and tear the lace teddy from my body to let it fall to the floor. My fingers instinctively reach for my birthmark, which has been both a curse and a blessing in my life.

Stepping out of the flimsy piece of lace, I open my locker to pull on my shorts and put my phone in my back pocket. I have nowhere to be and don’t want to hang out in the dressing room.

I consider going home, but don’t want to miss a chance of getting something, anything that could tell me where they took Alexi.

Making my way to the bar, I think about the man who is just behind that door. How could he have such a profound effect on my body and yet be so evil as to be mixed up with the Alvarez family?

He seems out of place, but you can never be sure with these types of men. They thrive on mystery and use it to their advantage, annihilating their enemies.

I should know, I use this tactic myself.

Who would ever think that little old me could hypnotize my victims into letting their bodies shut down?

Certainly not the people I work with, nor the unfortunate men who have crossed my path.

Knocking on the bar to grab his attention, I take the order of a regular and ignore the way he stares at my chest. At least I know the tip will be good. Isn’t that the whole reason why I let these puppies out to play?

We get busy, and before I know it, another hour has passed by. It calms down a bit.

I turn to ask Gwenny if she will be able to cope without me now, but the commotion coming from the back room draws our attention.

Don Alvarez storms onto the main floor and starts looking around frantically as if searching for something.

Or someone , it seems, because when his eyes land on me, they turn dark.

“You!” he spits out.

He points a finger at me, but I still feign innocence and look around to find someone to hide behind.

He marches to the bar and slaps his hands down. Hard. “You fucking ruined everything. I had him in the palm of my hand, and you had to be a useless piece of shit.”

Turning to his men shadowing him, he roars for them to take me. The two thugs prowl closer and each of them grabs an arm.

“Let her go.” The voice isn’t loud but still demanding enough that the two fools by my side drop their grasp on me immediately. I take a step forward to see where the voice came from, and somehow, I am not surprised to see the man with the scar on his cheek from before step into my view.

He nods in my direction before he focuses his glare on the don. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

The don snorts and dismisses him with a wave. “Go home and let me sort out my business.”

Walking closer, the stranger’s imposing physique cuts me off from the view of the don and the rest of the men.

“She is my business. What are you going to do with her?” he asks while staring at me.

Suddenly, he turns around to face the enemy, shielding me from everyone. He shouldn’t get involved in this.

But I guess he doesn’t know I can take care of myself. I touch his shoulder, and the same ripple as before runs through my body, except now I might have a name for it.

Lust.

Yearning.

Belonging?

There is an instant attraction to this man, and I have no idea why. It is impossible. I have closed my heart a long time ago to the idea of finding a man worthy of my time, and yet this stranger comes in and ruins it all with one touch.

I need to tread carefully.

Missing most of the conversation, I refocus when a word brings me back out of my reverie.

“…shipment…”

The man in front of me starts vibrating with anger, I hope. I remove my hand and try to peer around him.

He is squaring off with the don right in his face.

“And how do you expect to get away with this? Are you going to take her here in front of all these witnesses after you have made your intentions very clear? I’m sure one of these stupid idiots will have a conscience.

How will you explain that to the authorities? Let me take her instead.”

I stumble at his words and start retreating, but the two bozos at my back keep me caged in.

“You would do that for your don?” Alvarez asks, suspicion laced in his presumptuous words.

The stranger nods and then bows slightly before the short man.

“Business might not have gone as I have hoped, but you have a fine young man here, Angelo,” the don shouts over his shoulder.

I move to the side to see who he is talking to, and the man whose life I saved tonight appears out of the darkness. “That I do, Don, so with your permission, we will be taking the girl and leaving.”

Alvarez backs off, and the man reaches for my hand and pulls me with him. We walk past the glaring men, and freedom is almost in our reach when the don shouts out: “Don’t get too familiar with the merchandise. I might come to collect her one of these days.”